The number plate on your Tesla's driving visualisation is editable. Most owners never find the setting, because it lives two menus deep inside a feature that arrived quietly. Here is how to change it, and what the limits are before you start making artwork.
What you need
- A Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X or Cybertruck with either the Intel Atom or AMD Ryzen infotainment computer.
- Software from the 2025 Holiday Update or later. The feature launched alongside custom digital wraps in the 2024 Holiday Update, but only on Cybertruck; the 2025 Holiday Update took it fleet-wide.
- The car's touchscreen. This cannot be done from the phone app.
Setting the plate text
- Open Toybox.
- Select Paint Shop, then tap Customize.
- Switch to the License Plate tab along the top.
- Choose the Number sub-tab.
You can enter any string of letters and numbers up to 32 characters. That is far more than any real European plate needs, which is the point — the field is built for novelty text as much as for matching your actual registration.
Uploading your own background
The Background sub-tab is where custom images go, and this is where the requirements matter.
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| File format | PNG |
| Maximum file size | 500 KB |
| Canvas, North American plates | 420 × 200 px |
| Canvas, European-style plates | 420 × 100 px |
| Designs stored on the car | Up to 10 |
| Transfer method | USB drive |
Images cannot be uploaded wirelessly. You copy them onto a USB stick, plug it into the car, and import from there — the same workflow Tesla uses for custom wraps and dashcam storage.
Why European owners want the 420 × 100 canvas
The two canvas sizes exist because the plates themselves are different shapes. The EU standard plate is 520 × 110mm — long and shallow — while the North American standard is much closer to square. Tesla renders them differently, and artwork built for one aspect ratio will not sit correctly on the other.
If you are in Europe, build at 420 × 100. Leave the left-hand strip clear if you want the blue EU band and country code to stay legible, and keep contrast high: the plate is rendered small on the visualisation, and fine detail disappears at that size. Communities have already published downloadable plate templates for specific regions, which is usually a faster route than starting from a blank canvas.
What this does not do
It is worth being blunt: this is a cosmetic change to a rendering on your screen. It has no effect on your physical plate, on what the car transmits, or on any camera, toll gantry or enforcement system. Nobody outside the car sees it.
It also sits alongside the rest of Paint Shop's personalisation — custom wraps, window tints and colour changes — which expanded again with the 2026.26 Summer Update. If the plate options look thin on your car, check your software version first; this is a feature set Tesla has been adding to release by release.